In 謎解きはディナーのあとで (which I’m currently reading), one of the main characters wears glasses, and I realised that although I wear glasses I don’t know that much related Japanese vocabulary. So here is a post dedicated to rectifying that!

ぼやける、かすむ – be blurry (both can refer to things being blurry or your own eyes are being blurry)
すべてがぼやけている。 – Everything is blurry.
目がかすんでいる。 – My vision is blurry.

Glasses

蝶番 – ちょうつがい – hinge
智 – ち – according to here, this is where the lens rims connect to the arms
テンプル – this refers to the entire arm and the モダン can be considered part of this (says wikipedia)
I think the other katakana words are pretty self-explanatory. Now, how to talk about glasses!

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～めいた from めく ‘to seem like’
「出かけるために戻る・・・・・・」なにやら逆説めいた言い回しである。
“Coming back in order to go out……” it was a paradoxical sentence.

整理整頓（せいりせいとん）tidy and in order
行き届く （ゆきとどく・いきとどく）to be scrupulous, meticulous
お世辞にも整理整頓の行き届いたとはいいがたい乱れた部屋だ。
Even being polite, it is difficult to say that that messy room was scrupulously tidy.

蝶よ花よと育てられる – to have been brought up pampered and spoiled, to have had a sheltered upbringing
正真正銘（しょうしんしょうめい）- genuine, authentic
蝶よ花よと育てられ、優秀な大学を優秀な成績で卒業した、要するに不自由のない正真正銘のお嬢様。
Brought up with a pampered lifestyle, graduated from a top university with flying colours, all in all a proper lady with no wants.

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The premise of the books is that the owner of the second-hand bookshop “Biblia” can discern the story behind a physical book – information about where it is from and its previous owners. Each chapter is named after the book that it revolves around, usually solving some small mystery associated with it. Not exactly a gripping read but the relaxed pace seemed fitting for the hot summer during which the story takes place.

Things pick up in the final chapter however, the story takes an unexpectedly dramatic turn and it also ties together all the characters introduced in each chapter very neatly. There isn’t much set up for the second book though so I imagine it will be more of the same; solving problems and an exciting concluding chapter. I might look into the rest of the series later, but for now I’ll be moving onto 謎解きはディナーのあとで. I saw the drama which came out a few years ago and it was a lot of fun so I hope the book will be too!

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Finally getting round to translating the Zestiria website. This is the Prologue (original page here). If you have any comments or questions about my translation, please feel free to ask!

プロローグ
Prologue

長い時が流れたなのち。人々が立ち入らぬ森の奥深くに、伝承に語られる「人と天族が暮らす理想郷」を彷彿とさせる村、「天族の社（もり）」があった。グリンウッド大陸に「穢れ」が広がるようになって久しいこの時代に、天族の社はいまだ汚れの影響を受けずにいた。
A long time had passed. Deep in a forest that no one entered there was a village, the “Heavenly Host Village”, reminiscent of the utopia spoken of in legend where people and angels lived together On the continent of Greenwood, in this age when the corruption had been spreading for a long time, Heavenly Host Forest still remained untouched by this pollution.

この地で拾われた子「スレイ」は、幸いにも周囲の慈しみに恵まれ、またある理由から外界と隔絶した生活を送ってきたことにより、穢れのない純粋な心をもつ青年として成長していた。スレイが村の外に出る事を禁じられていたのは、外界に存在する穢れによって生まれた魔物「憑魔」の餌食とならないようにするため。高い霊応力を持っているスレイは憑魔の恐ろしさをスレイによく語り聞かせていたため、スレイもその禁を破ろうとはしなかったのである。
Slay, a child taken in by this place, was fortunate and blessed to be with surrounded with love and, being brought up cut off from the outside world, grew up to be a young boy of pure heart. Slay was forbidden from leaving the village to prevent him from falling prey to the Hyouma – monsters born from the corruption present in the outside world. Slay possessed high levels of spiritual power and never sought go against this rule, having been told many times of the dangers of the Hyouma.

天族の杜は外界と遠く隔てられた、いわば聖地である。そんな限られた土地スレイができる遊びといえば、
偶然手に入れた書物「天遺見聞録」（てんいけんぶんろく）を読むことと、杜の近くにある古代遺跡の探検ぐらい。スレイは遺跡をたびたび訪れ、やがて古代の出来事の興味を抱くようになっていった。天遺見聞録にある「太古の時代、人は天族を知覚し共に暮らしていた」という伝承もけして夢想話ではなく真実ではないかと考えるようになり、遺跡で何かを見つける度に古代の世界に思いを馳せる日々がスレイの日常となった。
The Heavenly Host Forest was isolated from the rest of the world, a sacred land. The only entertainment Slay could find in such a cut off place was reading the “Heavenly History Record” which he happened upon, and exploring the ancient ruins near the forest. Slay visited these ruins frequently and before long he developed an interest in ancient history. He began to think that the legend spoken of in the Heavenly History Record, “In ancient times, people could perceive the Heavenly Host and they lived together.”, was not a fantasy but might actually be true, and finding new things at the ruins that made him think of the world of those ancient times became Slay’s daily life.

そんなスレイが飽きもせず遺跡を探検していたある日、彼は遺跡の崩落に巻き込まれ、地下へと落下してしまう。遺跡地下から抜け出すため歩き回るスレイは、気を失って倒れている一人の少女を発見。少女は自分と同様に崩落に巻き込まれたようで、スレイはすぐさま手を差し伸べた。少女は大きな怪我もなく無事意識を取り戻したものの、手荷物を全て失い、帰り方も分からならくなってしまった様子。スレイは一旦自分の村へ来ないかと誘いをかけ、少女を連れて遺跡を脱出した。
Slay never tired of the exploring the ruins, and on that day he was caught up in a cave in and fell underground. As he walked around trying to find his way out of the underground ruins he came across a girl lying unconscious on the ground. It seemed she too had been caught up in the cave in and Slay immediately went to help her. Although she was uninjured and returned to consciousness, she had lost all her belongings and did not know how to get out. After inviting her back to his village Slay led the girl out of the ruins.

なんとか天族の村へと帰還してスレイ。はじめは警戒の様子を見せていた少女も、スレイの心遣いに触れて次第に緊張を解き、自分があの遺跡を訪れた理由、十数年前から世界各地で、人智の及ばない災厄が起きている外の世界の実情。そしてアリーシャという己の名をスレイの告げる。
Somehow or other Slay managed to get back to the Heavenly Host Village. The girl had at first been on her guard, but Slay’s kind and thoughtful manner gradually put her at ease. She told him her reason for visiting the ruins; for the last ten years a catastrophe beyond human understanding had been occuring all over the world. She gave him her name as well, Aleesha.

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The Tales of Zestiria website has loads of information now and I’d like to go through and translate it all but university has got the better of me and I have deadlines every week :( I really need to improve my time management if I’m going to make time for translation as well. I’ll aim to post a translation by Wednesday.

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Pictures are from this blog. The scans here are from V Jump, but there are also scans from Jump which have slightly different information so I’ve put that here too.

古代の歴史には、人と天族が幸せに暮らす知識が眠ってるって信じてるから
Because I believe ancient history holds the knowledge of people and the Heavenly Host living happily together.

スレイ
Slay

CV：木村良平
Voice actor: Ryouhei Kimura

身長：175cm
Height: 175cm

武器：片手用の儀礼剣
Weapon: One-handed ceremonial sword

V Jump: 古代遺跡に興味を持少年。甘すぎる一面もあるが純粋で前向き。
A boy with an interest in ancient ruins. Can be a bit naive but is straight-forward with a positive outlook.

Jump: 甘すぎるところもある心優しい少年で、いつも前向き。世界中の古代遺跡に興味を持つ。
A slightly naive, kind-hearted boy with an always positive outlook. Interested in ancient ruins throughout the world.

私は見てみたいんだ。穢れのない故郷を！
I want to see my home uncorrupted!

アリーシャ
Aleesha/Alisha?

CV：茅野愛衣
Voice Actor: Ai Kayano

身長：161cm
Height: 161cm

武器：長槍
Weapon: Pike

V Jump: 自らを姫ではなく、国に尽くす一介の騎士と考えている勇敢な王女。
A gallant princess, who thinks of herself as a mere knight devoted to her country and not as a lady of noble birth.

Jump: 一介の騎士として堅苦しい男性言葉を話す王女。災厄や戦乱を放っておけず旅に出る。
A princess who behaves as a knight and speaks with formal male language*. Unable to ignore the disasters and war around her, she sets out on a journey,
*The translation sounds terrible I know! Maybe I’ll come back to it later.